College leaders, mental health advocates gather for suicide prevention strategies at Rutgers University

PISCATAWAY -- With concerns mounting over how college students cope with stress, depression and anxiety, more than 200 school staffers and mental health advocates gathered at Rutgers University in Piscataway today to help refine strategies for suicide prevention.

Campuses say the need for counseling — as well as the need to publicize its availability and remove its stigma — continues to grow. About 10 percent of Rutgers students receive help for mental health issues each year, according to vice president of student affairs Greg Blimling. And the emergence of drugs for conditions such as bipolar disorder, he said, means more affected students consider college a possibility.

"The demand for services is quickly outpacing our ability to respond," Blimling said.

At the same time, campus leaders are concerned that not enough students seek assistance. A national study in 2008 found more than 6 percent of students seriously considered suicide, while about 1 percent attempted it.

Alan Siegel, director of mental health services for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told the audience that schools must try a variety of methods to coax more students to come forward. He said several tactics, including emailed risk assessments and online chats with parents, seem successful.

When the institution surveys 500 students at a time, for instance, about 60 share warning signs — 25 of which were typically unknown to school officials.

"They almost always come in (for counseling)," Siegel said.

Rutgers has pursued several of strategies Siegel discussed for attracting more students, said Jill Richards, its director of counseling and psychological services. The university eliminated most waiting lists for students who drop in, she said, and partners with a local psychological services screening center after-hours.

For administrators, however, the question of how to respond to seemingly suicidal individuals remains difficult.

Rutgers organized yesterday’s conference after a December report by former Public Advocate Ronald Chen rebuked policies at some schools that led to the hasty removal of several distressed students.

One woman who harmed herself while battling depression, according to Chen’s office, had her enrollment blocked after being released from the hospital. Her college eventually backtracked and treated the situation as a physical illness.

Sean Campbell, a 20-year-old junior at Hunter College in New York, told the audience he supports that way of thinking — comparing mental illness, which he said results from a chemical imbalance, to diabetes. Campbell, who said he has long dealt with anxiety, travels the country talking to students of all ages. He hopes to expel the notion that those dealing with mental health problems will be ostracized.

"No one judged me, or thought negatively of me, that I could see," he said of his youth.

Other speakers urged more coordination among campuses and outside agencies. Donna Amundson, program manager for the state’s Traumatic Loss Coalitions for Youth, said her grant-funded program can train campus authorities to spot depression and provide support services after a death.

"A lot of schools are weak in the ‘post-vention’ piece of it," Amundson said.